Southern California water giant agrees to buy delta islands

Larry Etherton prepares to unload a transport truck from a ferry on Webb Tract island in November. The island is one of several in the delta that may be purchased by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. less

Larry Etherton prepares to unload a transport truck from a ferry on Webb Tract island in November. The island is one of several in the delta that may be purchased by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern ... more

Larry Etherton prepares to unload a transport truck from a ferry on Webb Tract island in November. The island is one of several in the delta that may be purchased by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. less

Larry Etherton prepares to unload a transport truck from a ferry on Webb Tract island in November. The island is one of several in the delta that may be purchased by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern ... more

The powerful Metropolitan Water District of Southern California agreed Tuesday to buy four islands and a portion of a fifth in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a bid that some conservationists believe is a blatant water grab by California’s largest water agency.

The district’s 37-member board of directors, representing 26 agencies in Southern California, authorized Metropolitan’s general manager to enter into a purchase agreement to buy 20,369 acres of land encompassing Webb Tract, Bacon Island, Bouldin Island, most of Holland Tract and a portion of Chipps Island, in Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Solano counties.

Two of the islands — Bouldin and Bacon — are directly in the proposed path of Gov. Jerry Brown’s controversial twin-tunnels project, which would divert supplies from the Sacramento River southward, including to farms and many of the 19 million people who get their water from the mammoth district.

Acquiring the islands would give the district more leverage in the bitter battle for delta water, especially if California’s four-year drought continues. Metropolitan would also profit from owning water rights and rights-of-way at the source of their drinking supply.

The sale would also give Metropolitan the ability to use the islands to stockpile riprap and other supplies for levee fixes and as a staging area for tunnel construction, according to an agency staff report.

“It’s an exciting opportunity that perhaps instead of talking about what might be done in the delta, perhaps we can start to get some things done,” said Jeffrey Kightlinger, Metropolitan’s general manager.

He said the sale would also allow the Southern California agency to implement environmental benefits, including waterfowl protection, restoration of wetlands habitat for the delta smelt, carbon sequestration and turbidity studies.

Local conservationists weren’t so excited. They have compared the pending sale to the movie “Chinatown,” the 1974 Roman Polanski film about deceptive tactics used by Los Angeles interests in 1937 to secure water rights to the Owens Valley, east of the Sierra.

“It’s definitely an existential threat to the delta and delta communities,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the conservation group Restore the Delta. “Truly, it’s like having the fox right in the middle of the henhouse.”

The owner of the land, Delta Wetlands Properties, a subsidiary of insurance giant Zurich, recently gained approval to build reservoirs and flood Bacon Island and Webb Tract, which are below sea level, and convert Bouldin Island and Holland Tract to wildlife habitat. But Kightlinger said the water district is not interested in using the islands, which are protected by levees, as reservoirs.

The board of directors’ vote was far from unanimous — only 54 percent of the weighted vote sided with the purchase agreement, raising questions about whether the district is fully committed. Two of the biggest members, the city of Los Angeles and the San Diego County Water Authority, voted against the deal. The city of Santa Monica joined them in opposition, but failed in a motion to delay the vote.

Kightlinger will now enter into a purchase agreement, triggering a 60-day escrow period. The district board scheduled a meeting for April 26 to review the terms one last time before committing to the purchase.